[Via the Japan Times]  “The most recent UNAIDS data show there were 33.4 million people in the world infected with HIV in 2008, of which an estimated 2.7 million were new cases. UNAIDS says new HIV infections were down 30 percent from the peak in 1996, when the figure reached 3.5 million.
In Japan, on the other hand, the rate of new HIV infections was on an almost steady increase until 2009, when it dropped for the first time in about a decade.
According to the health ministry, 368 Japanese were newly …

There can be fewer places more amenable to nicotine addiction than Japan. The idea of smoking as a socially unacceptable habit has yet to gain currency, smoke-free bars and restaurants are a rarity and cigarettes, at around 300 yen (about $3.45) a pack, are surprisingly cheap.
But Japan’s reputation as a smokers’ paradise faces its toughest challenge for decades with the introduction this autumn of a price hike that will take the price to above 400 yen.
The increase, which comes into effect Oct. 1, is a sign of a shift in …

Via the Japan Subculture Research Center:
After decades of unspoken agreements between police and yakuza that have allowed organized crime to operate with relative impunity in everything from gambling on sport and illegal casinos to human trafficking and prostitution, the national police are cracking down on Japan’s top yakuza gang, energized not only by the embarrassment over the sumo debacle but also by the emergence of a dynamic new National Police Agency (NPA) chief last year who wants to curtail the broad influence of yakuza …

Wow! It seems that fuzzy logic, new math, a broken calculator or maybe even smoke and mirrors are used to push a different agenda, and it has nothing to do with crime!
According to the data compiled by the ministry and its Defense Facilities Administration Agency, obtained by a group linked to victims of such incidents, 1,059 crimes and accidents involving U.S. service personnel in Okinawa, or 54 percent of the nationwide total linked to members of the U.S. military, were recorded in fiscal 2002, 1,159 cases, or about 55 percent, …

One may ask is this a new trend? Or is it something that has been going on for years? Are these isolated incidents? Or is there a greater deep seeded problem in Japanese law enforcement and correctional institutions?

(Global Immigration Counsel)
With allegation of abuse and poor living conditions at immigration detention centers in Japan, several detainees have begun a hunger strike in protest. Roughly 60 detainees housed at the East Japan Immigration Control Center located in Ushiku have been on a hunger strike in protest of poor conditions at the facility. The Japan Times online has stated that a spokesman for the detention center says that about 30 detainees, not 60 have refused meals since Monday. Many of the detainees claim to be political refugees and can not …

Recent incidents such as the Japanese Coast Guard obtaining an arrest warrant for Captain Paul Watson, the cancellation of “The Cove” screening at a U.S. Military base in Japan and the dismissal of charges against a popular sushi restaurant will most likely spark the flame of controversy. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, CA have set in place a motion to dismiss charges against a sushi restaurant in Santa Monica, CA that admitted to serving meat of an endangered whale.

As I sit here sipping on my mocha, I see that the Japanese media continues to run the Okinawa-mondai stories. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday revealed his plan to move as many as 1,000 of the 2,500 U.S. Marines based at the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma located in Ginowan on the island of Okinawa to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture was met with protest. As a former-US Marine that served 4-years in Okinawa, this mondai or so-called problem is of interest to me.
However (comma) I am waiting for the Japanese …

It looks like Japan has a new plan for economic growth, the Medical Visa for foreigners need long-term medical care. The new visa is mainly aimed at luring rich Chinese patients.
“The government is considering creating a “medical visa” system for foreigners keen on receiving high-quality long-term medical treatment in Japan, senior government officials said Monday.
The government wants to attract wealthy sufferers of a range of ailments in China and other Asian countries to Japan, so that the nation’s medical industry can cash in on such patients, the officials said.
The government intends to integrate …

In a previous post on “Africa: Is Black back for Japan, China and the USA?” I looked at the “renewed” interest in Africa and its resources. With the news that Japan will build a base in Djibouti to protect cargo and other ships from pirates, it seems that Japan’s interest has peaked and I bet this will turn into a great opportunity for Japan to spread the love via increased ODA to counter what China is doing in Africa.
Looking back at a previous article on Piracy and Japan’s Constitution, Craig …